Cables, chains, cords, fiber, ropes, and/or other types of extendible, flexible, and/or retractable lines (collectively referred to herein generally as a cable or wire-rope) can be wound onto and/or off a cable drum (also referred to herein as a drum) by action of a motor and drive assembly that rotates the drum in connection with hoisting, winching, and/or other cable-reeling applications. Oftentimes, the cable comprises helically wound, intertwined strands, in which the strands physically contact other strands along the cable. Where the cable is made of metal, it is electrically conductive.
During winding and/or unwinding, the cable can become mis-wrapped on the drum and/or otherwise fouled/strained, thereby causing equipment damage, operational delays, etc. For example, a cable can come out of alignment and risk being mis-wrapped during a winding operation due to, for example, an excessive amount of slack in a standing portion of the cable (also referred to as a payout), the cable becoming loose on the drum, a failure of a level-winding mechanism on the hoist or load, etc. In addition, a cable can also become otherwise fouled and/or strained due to, for example, binding, damage, defects, fraying, kinking, over-extending, pinching, splaying, splintering, splitting, stretching, tampering, vibrating, etc., and/or including as a result of a broken strand of a wire of the cable that can cause successive layers of wound cable to become misaligned and/or unbundled.
Various cable guides can be used to guide the cable evenly onto, and/or off, the drum. Thus, in instances where there is fouling of the cable at or near the drum, linear motion of the cable through the guide can be impeded, causing the cable to, for example, bend, bind, flip, turn, twist, and/or wind-up on itself, etc., including building-up to a distance and/or height sufficient to trip a proximity sensor for generating an alert and/or the like.